We are two weeks into the new job and new Kindergarten, all our stuff (minus the car) has arrived. We miss our friends and community in Juneau horribly. Carrie has finally succumbed to the cold that Torsten has been sniffling and coughing from (and of course it is worse for adults!). So we are letting Carrie “sleep in” a bit (we were up at 3am and ~5:30am with Aven, so somehow it doesn’t seem like sleeping in!). I’m preparing some omelets for breakfast. While I do this, I’m catching up on the last few weeks of magazines. Physics Today has a review of the book “Lives in Science: How Institutions Affect Academic Careers” by Joseph C. Hermanowicz.
An excerpt from the review:
“n the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) assessment of graduate physics departments, two of the universities (“elites”) were ranked near the top; one(“pluralist”), near the middle; and three (“communitarians”), near the bottom.
The pluralists express the most satisfaction. Many, after some initia discontent, have found a comfortable mix of teaching and research and realize that internal as well as external sources of recognition are important for their sense of personal satisfaction. The communitarians, at universities where teaching dominates over research, feel they have become disconnected from professional science as their careers have evolved. By midcareer their expectations have adjusted to meet the low research expectations and meager resources of their universities. Many of the communitarians state that they dislike their universities and would not choose an academic career if they could begin again. They look forward to a retirement in which they can pursue interests outside of science.”
Did we make a good decision? Can we find a community? Will the forecast “winter storm warning” measure up? 🙂 We hope so on all three, and we’ll see.. sooner or later. Hopefully this is not a broken egg (or at least no shell!) in the omelet of life.
I’m excited about the apple and brie omelets. And of course, to perfectly complement the subtext of this post, Torsten wants scrambled eggs…
Meanwhile, the view from the sunroom:
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| From Stuff |
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| From Stuff |
Thanks for the post – honest and from the heart! My experience has been that every big decision (and some small ones) have led to self-doubt. But the balance to missing the past is to live into what is ahead.
Must admit, though, that I am glad not to have to face the boxes! Hope you find a place to settle soon – where you are or some other place.
Hope Carrie is better soon, and love to all of you. Sounds like kindergarten is going well.
i like your egg metaphores, eggman! 😉